Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum started for Team USA in their matchup against South Sudan on Wednesday after being sidelined in the first game of the Paris 2024 Olympics on Sunday.
Tatum took just four shots in the 17:10 minutes of playing time knocking down two for four points. The Celtics star collected five rebounds, had two assists and a highlight reel block when he hustled back to protect the rim and prevent South Sudan forward Nuni Omot from scoring the easy bucket.
Tatum connected on an alley-oop dunk from Stephen Curry, making things look easy for the Americans en route to a 103-86 victory.
After benching Tatum in the first game, head coach Steve Kerr sat NBA MVP Joel Embiid against South Sudan. Embiid scored four points and collected two rebounds against Serbia on Sunday.
“This is the fastest team in the tournament we’re going to play,” Kerr said of his decision to change the lineup, per Ben Golliver of the Washington Post. “We wanted to match up. They made 14 threes against us in London. The whole game today was going to be switching and staying in front of people.”
Kerr has taken a lot of slack from not playing Tatum in the first game, but the Golden State Warriors coach said he doesn’t pay attention to the outside noise and hopes the players don’t as well.
“They’re pros and committed to each other,” Kerr said, per Golliver. “I don’t read social media. I would hope our guys aren’t paying too much attention to that. That’s a regular season thing where the soap opera can carry the ratings. Here, it’s just win a damn gold.”
Kerr is reportedly changing the starting lineup for Team USA Vs. Puerto Rico on Friday. Jrue Holiday, Devin Booker and LeBron James will start alongside Curry and Embiid, per Golliver.
